Alex Watson: Bringer of Destructionand CUPCAKES!
by Banner'sBaby98
Summary: Alex Watson is a mutant with some secrets even she doesn't know-dark, juicy secrets. Her crush on Dr. Banner? Not so secret. She works with the Avengers, and one particular mission has her reeling. Someone from her past is targeting her, and she will need the help of everyone she knows, even some X-Men from the mansion whence she came, to stop him.
1. Chapter 1

**_Chapter One_**

He keeps staring at me… why? Do I have a booger hanging out? Am I really that ugly? Nip-slip? What is it, Doctor Banner? It hasn't occurred to me until now that I'm staring right back.

"Watson? Are you paying attention?" I snap back into focus. Where am I? Meeting. HQ. Right. Good job.

"Yes sir. When do we head out?" Fury is quite snippy, even without his title.

"Midnight. Go home, pack, and head out at twelve. The dark should cover you. We're being watched. Stealth mode the whole time, Stark. We're just after information, but you could run into some hostiles. Don't let your guard down. Be ready for anything." He seems more worried than he should be for a simple intelligence mission. I wasn't paying attention for most of the briefing, but even with my daydreaming, it seemed a little… brief. He has more than he's telling us about. What else is new?

-1.5 hours and one jet ride later-

It's about seven when we finally get back to the new tower. (Tony felt the need to move it after the Ultron incident.) This is too much time to pack. What do I even have to pack? Emergency supplies, sure. Those are pre-packed in a bag by my door all the time. Living at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters prepared me for quick escapes with anything I might need. Oh yeah, I didn't mention; I'm a mutant. Fury and Xavier made a joint decision that my knowledge wouldn't be furthered by spending the rest of my life in the mansion, and the world was being deprived of my abilities due to their lack of use, so they sent me to be an Avenger. Twenty-two and getting so far in the world… lucky me. Tony is no longer the only one on the team who can fly. My mutation is a pair of giant wings attached to my back… lucky me again. I love them, but to say they haven't caused me trouble would be a lie. Tragic backstory, blah blah blah. Anyway, they're as tall as I am and, when fully extended, twice my height in their span. I like to think of them as giant, white, ultra-sensitive motorcycles.

"Alex!" Who could possibly want what…

"Yes dear," I reply to the voice as I stick my head out of my room.

"Come here." The voice is Tony's.

"What if I have something better to do?"

"Then I'll use Iron Legion 2.0 to launch this tablet through your window. Duh." I smirk and walk toward him.

"What can I do ya for hot stuff?" I smirk. He looks up and smirks back.

"We're going after William Stryker. It seems like he has a history with people more on your side of the family tree. Sound familiar?" Oh God… if it's Stryker we're after, I understand why Fury was so worried. That man is ruthless, evil, and will stop at nothing to… well, be horrible.

"Unfortunately yes. He's the Original Sandbox Destroyer from my neck of the woods. Meanie-head. Do you know what he's planning?"

"Nope-sorry doll face. Wish I did. New question, though."

"Shoot bro."

"Do you like Bruce?" If I had a drink, I might choke one it.

"No comment." I walk back into my room to pack what I didn't realize I had forgotten until the mention of Stryker's name: weapons.

-three hours and a gun-cleaning later-

It's 11:30, and everyone is ready to leave. Tony and Bruce are engaged in some sort of scientific banter. Clint is standing with his arms crossed-pretty intense for somebody who pulls so many vent-based pranks. Steve is attempting to navigate the magnificent iPhone, and Natasha is standing over his shoulder-or, as close as she can get at her height-giggling almost silently at his abortive attempts. I don't know what to do. I glance around and catch Bruce looking at me again. How could he not? Even I have to admit I look kind of good. My leather vest has holes in the back big enough for my wings (Even though I can retract them as I please, it gets a little cumbersome during vigorous physical activity-better to just have wing holes.) and the pants match the vest, but are ultra-stretchy. I could do Natasha's death-thigh thing! ...if I knew how. Oh well. The point is he's looking at me, and I don't want to stop looking back. I wave. He blushes and turns away. Only one way to fix that. I begin to stride into their conversation.

"Hi boys." The greeting seemed appropriate in my head, but surprisingly too casual outside.

"Hey Alex," Bruce replies. Tony just looks at me with an eyebrow cocked.

"What are you guys talking about?"

"Stryker's experiments. He's barbaric. All of those innocent people he killed… in the name of what?" Bruce answers, somewhat irritated with the whole idea.

"They didn't all die. It's kind of like what AIM was doing, except AIM might have killed fewer people. He didn't kill Logan because he was given an extraordinary motivation to live," I reply.

"It still damaged the man. He's tough as nails, but good God. Nobody deserves to go through that."

 _You didn't either._ Our conversation is interrupted by the start of a jet.

"Time to move out, guys," Clint calls from the pilot's seat. My fidgeting accelerates to lightning speed. I want to do this. Stryker is just the single most evil person I know.

"Everything all right, Alex?" Bruce asks. He scoots closer so that we're inches from each other. His eyes are so warm… I take a deep breath.

"William Stryker is not someone who will take anything we do lightly. He won't hesitate to send the army of mutants he more than likely already has at his disposal after us. He did irreparable damage to one of my best friends," I tell Bruce. He listened intently. He is genuinely concerned about both what I have said and the fact that this bothers me do much.

"I'm not saying Logan asked for what he got. I'm also not saying that what happened to him or any of Stryker's other human-experiments was good. But your friend wouldn't be who he is today if every preceding detail of his life had not gone exactly as it had. None of us would be. Natasha and the Red Room; Tony and his imprisonment in the Middle East; the Captain and his serum-slash-being frozen. None of us would be here if bad things hadn't happened to us." I've never thought of it that way before, but the man is right. The things that happen to us and our reactions shape who we are.

"You're right. I hadn't thought of it that way before, but you are right. I'm sorry it doesn't help the nerves though. I wish I could tell you it did," I apologize. He meant to soothe me. It was in his eyes.

"It's okay. I'm just sorry I couldn't help more." There is a short pause until he has gathered his thoughts.

"Hey Alex?"

"Hey Doctor Banner?"

"When we get back to the tower, would you-" He is cut off by Steve's voice.

"Okay guys, here's the plan. This guy-Stryker-his base is in the middle of the forest, which gives us plenty of cover. We have no idea what we're headed into, so the element of surprise is vital. Alex will be the first to exit the plane. She is our primary set of eyes."

"Well don't I feel special?" Clint smirks, and Tony actually snorts.

"I hope so," Steve shoots back with a small smile. "From circling for a few minutes, we can tell that the compound is somewhat lit. Alex, you take out the sentry. He's based out of a tower in the middle. Clint will take his place. His job is to take out anyone on the ground. The key here is stealth-infiltrate the base as quietly as possible-no rambunctious crap."

"I'm offended!" Tony says and raises a hand.

"Well, dear, you could stand to be a little more _graceful_." I punctuate the sentence with a flutter of my wings. Tony looks even more wounded, Bruce chuckles, and Steve continues without missing a beat.

"We can't assume that the obvious sniper is acting alone. Alex: check the corners and trees. We can't afford heavy fire from above. Tony, Natasha, and I will go in and download all of their intel. Everybody is a little leery of Fury at this point too, so Bruce is staying on the plane to backup all of what we gather on a separate hard drive for whatever research we see fit. The key here is stealth and speed, guys. In and out in under half an hour, and then back to the tower. Any questions?"

"Does the bad language rule still apply if you trip over a branch?"


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter Two_**

Steve told no lie; I am indeed the first person to exit the plane. I jump right out off of the bottom ramp. As I soar through the air down to my target, I have never felt more alive-bypassing wind and stars and sky like it's nothing compared to me. Just to give the rest of the team a little time to land and set up, I flap my wings to accelerate my speed and altitude, and then dive-bomb through the endless night. This is exactly what it was like when I snuck out of the mansion for the first time; I was alone, I was free, and the weight of the world on my shoulders was replaced by every single star in the sky.

The team does land, though, and after that, it's time for business. This is my first real mission with the Avengers-no fucking up. The ground team assembles (pun intended), and I circle the base a few times to find the perfect vantage point. As my bow and arrow unfolds itself form its neat little holster, I hover in the air, preparing to strike. I draw back, aim for his knee, and fire. The arrow soars, remarkably resembling me. The man drops as if he had never existed. I take to searching the trees around the base. Surely, Stryker has got to be smarter than that… doesn't he?

"Alex, have you found anyone else?" A voice in my ear asks. It's Cap.

"Not yet, but give me a little more time. I've only searched one corner. I need a few more minutes."

I take his lack of reply as a guarantee of my request. I move to the next corner. I hear something rustle behind me, but it's just a pair of squirrels doing…oh dear God, ew! I slip my gun from its place on my hip and cock it. There is a woman ten feet from me. She might have heard me rustling; this has got to be quick. I fire the weapon at her knee-all nonfatal injuries for intel missions: Alex Watson policy; you're welcome, bad guys. The bullet doesn't miss. She's down for the count.

The other two corners are empty, so I give Steve and Clint the go-ahead. I begin to circle overhead to search for any more villainous associates of Stryker's outside the facility. Even though none are visible, anyone could call for backup at any time. It suddenly doesn't seem like such a great idea to leave that woman unattended.

"Clint?" I call over comms.

"Yeah?"

"Do you have anything that knocks people unconscious? Like gas or something?"

"Nope. Sorry bro. Stark should." Well that is helpful. Thank you Mr. Barton. I'll just ask the easily accessible person you just mentioned while he is inside a highly dangerous facility equivalent to a villain's lair.

"Stark does! Actually, there should be spare capsules of it on the jet if anyone needs some. Bruce, you there buddy?" Stark suddenly chimes in.

"Yeah. I got it. I know where you store all of your extra Iron Man stuff. I'll bring it out, and if Alex can land briefly, I'll give it to her," Bruce replies.

"Awesome! Thank you. Meet me at the very edge of the forest on the Northwest side."

"Will do."

That's the side opposite the female sniper. At least if she sees Bruce coming, she'll have difficulty shooting him up. I can just barely make out her silhouette in the small portion of lighting her nest receives. She is still reeling from the shot. I almost feel bad, but casualties are casualties, and she could be dead right now. And working for Stryker on the front lines as she is, she might as well be.

It doesn't take Bruce long to find what I need. He explains to me how it works as he leaves the jet. Evidently I just have to inject her with it-anywhere, but the side of the arm is where the effect will take most quickly-and she's out for at least a day. I land momentarily, and Bruce is soon at the forest's edge.

"Throw it to me?" I joke. He smiles.

"Not a chance." I meet him in the middle, and he hands me the serum. He has a second syringe of it.

"What's that for?" I inquire, cocking a brow.

"Clint. If you didn't kill the sentries-which I greatly admire-he'll need it." Smart. I wish I had thought of that.

"Oh, okay. Good idea. It's just an ethics thing. Value of human life versus value of the mission." We are interrupted by Stark-shocker.

"That's fantastic honeybuns, but we got work to do. You can discuss ethics and taking the moral high road over coffee later. Or, you know, naked breakfast in bed. Whichever you prefer." As rude as he was, he has a point. Stealth and speed. I take the second syringe, put a hand on Bruce's shoulder and, without warning, use him to jet myself off into the night.

Per usual, ladies first. It's only polite. She is in a little too much pain to be focused on me. I jab her in the arm just like Bruce said, and her body tenses for a moment. Her eyes bounce straight to mine. She almost looks afraid. Her pupils seem steely, but the soft green that surrounds them tells a different story. She can't be older than I am, maybe even younger. I get the feeling that she may not want to be here any more than I do.

Putting the girl out of my mind for a moment, I reach Clint with the second syringe.

"Took you long enough," he comments.

"Well, you know what they say. A hot girl is always worth the wait," I come back snappily. Clint flicks the vial to dispel any air bubbles.

"You're right; she's gorgeous," he replies, staring at the light blue liquid through the glass. He capitalizes on his remark by stabbing the man's arm and injecting the serum. Judging by the bruises forming on Sniper Bro's face, it would seem that Clint has already done its job, but I'm no expert. I take off of the second nest like a bat into the sky. I intend to continue circling, but those plans are destroyed when I hear a shot ring from nowhere. It whizzes by a foot or two past my toe. I turn around to yell at Clint, but there's no time. A second shot is fired, and it makes contact with my calf. I curse loudly and fall fifteen feet to the grass below, which does nothing for my pain.

"Clint! CLINT! I'm hit. One of them must have called or something. I don't know what happened or where the person is. Just watch out. Guys, we need to move out ASAP. We're busted." I taper off into a stream of inventive curses. Fuck this really hurts! Who the hell shot me? I try to get up, but an arrow flies by me, grazing my arm, and but was likely aimed for my chest. It misses, luckily, but at least now Clint knows which direction the attacker is coming from. Wait…MINE! Fuck! I draw my weapon as I fall to the ground, the pain too much for my screaming leg to bear. Suddenly, the shooters come out from the woods. One just falls-probably due to Clint-and I shoot one in the stomach. That's why you don't shoot people, asshole. I have no mercy on people who fire at me. I accidentally roll over on the side of my throbbing arm and howl in pain. It's not as bad as the bullet, but damn, does it still hurt. The rest of the team crashes through the front doors, aware that an attack is in process.

"Alex? Are you okay? What's going on? Our comms went out. Everyone's but Stark," Cap says, kneeling beside me.

"I've been hit. We need to go. There's more where they came from. I can't walk," I summarize. Without another word, Tony picks me up in the suit, careful of my wings, and flies me back to the jet.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Chapter Three_**

When we do reach the plane, Bruce has everything set up and is waiting on us. He withdraws me from Tony's arms like I'm a lost puppy and lays me down on a small palate. I see out of the corner of my eye Clint firing up the engine, Tony and Cap exchanging looks and small bits of information, and Natasha headed over to me.

"Come on, Alex. We're going to take off your pants," she says. I snort.

"Saucy."

She smiles, Bruce blushes, and he walks away. She slowly peels the fabric from my hips and begins to pull it down my leg. The part covering my bullet wound begins to shift horribly, and I make a sound I can only describe as almost screaming.

"Bruce, bring me a pair of scissors. We're going to have to cut them off." Well, isn't that sexy? Bruce gives her what she's asked for, and I begin to feel cold metal moving up my ankle. Slowly, it snips, and my pants are coming off. She continues to cut most of the way up my thigh, and then makes a circle, exposing the wound, but not my underwear.

"You're clear, Doctor. She's not naked," Natasha says. Bruce walks back toward me and sits down at my feet, pulling my calf into his lap. I'd be lying if I said it doesn't make me wish Natasha had exposed my underwear.

"It's not too bad. I have to get the bullet out and bandage you up until we can get to Helen. Are you ready?" He asks, fingers resting gingerly at my ankle.

"As I'll ever be," I answer. He grabs a strange looking tool that resembles a pair of tongs and begins to extract the bullet. It doesn't hurt too terribly until he begins to pull it out. I fist at the blankets I'm sitting on as the stupid metal leaves my leg. It doesn't hurt as much once it isn't there anymore. Bruce douses it with alcohol, which may actually hurt more than receiving the dumb thing. He puts something that looks like a band aid on steroids over the wound and begins wrapping gauze over the area of my calf.

"Thank you," I say. It seems like the right thing. His warm, brown eyes meet mine, and he smiles.

"No problem."

"AHEM! Save the bedroom eyes for the bedroom," Tony interjects. Bruce and I both shoot him a death glare. He giggles like a twelve-year-old. When Bruce is finished, he looks at my other flesh wound.

"That looks like it sucks," he comments.

"It does. Is it still bleeding?" I ask.

"No, but it does need to be sanitized. More alcohol. My apologies in advance." Oh yay. Fuck my life.

He pours the alcohol down my arm, and it stings again. Albeit, not as much as the first time, but it still sucks butthole. He wraps the small gash in a softer gauze.

"Figured out how they caught us," Tony says aloud.

"Great. I'm dying to know," I reply sarcastically. I actually am interested, but somewhat bitter. Gee, I wonder why that could be.

"Oh, you're just grumpy because there's a hole in your leg. Simmer down, kitten. Apparently there were ground sensors all over the place. They didn't recognize me because, well, titanium alloy versus human foot print. Maybe they have some mentality that drones aren't dangerous, which hurts me, but oh well. Cap and Nat set them off. Their response team was evidently active several miles out, which was the only reason it took them so long to arrive. We got what we needed. The files had just barely finished downloading to both hard drives when Alex's distress call came in. The belowground comms shut down because the base was made of something too thick for radio waves to penetrate. Gotta work that out when we get back. JARVIS is sorting through the data as I speak, and we'll know everything about Stryker when we get back to the tower. We're keeping the originals; Fury gets our copies. I'm not taking any chances with Not The Director Of Me. Questions?"

"Why did they go after Alex specifically? Why not Clint?" Bruce asks.

"There's nothing saying they weren't aiming for Clint and didn't just see me first," I attempt to explain.

"No; Bruce has a point. Before you knocked out that second sniper, she had a clear shot of Clint, but didn't take it. Then, the people who were monitoring the base targeted you, not him. I think Bruce is onto something," Cap adds. That is valid. They came after me primarily. Clint was secondary to them.

"Maybe because of her history with Stryker and affiliations with the X-Men?" Natasha interjects.

"Maybe. Still, there might be something personal here. Alex, in the future, you're never on sentry duty again. You're always with a team. Not that you can't take care of yourself, but I think it's a bad idea to leave you alone. Okay?" Cap says.

"Fine by me. I don't like getting shot." Bruce chuckles breathily.

 _"_ _Where is she?"_

 _"_ _We don't know, sir."_

 _"_ _Why don't you have her?"_

 _"_ _You performed the procedure on her yourself, sure. She's a bit difficult to deal with."_

 _"_ _Who is she with?"_

 _"_ _The Avengers, sir."_

 _"_ _Pay a visit to Stark Tower. Fail me again, and you will not live to regret it."_


End file.
